Spiral listing of items

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are various embodiments for rendering images of items in a ranked listing as a spiral on a network page. In one embodiment, a page builder ranks a listing of items according to a criterion provided by the user and generates a network page that depicts a spiral comprising a plurality of images, where each image is associated with one of the items in the ranked listing. The page builder arranges the images such that the image associated with the highest ranked item is located at the center of the spiral and the remaining images are arranged along a path of the spiral in decreasing order according to the ranking of the items associated with each of the respective remaining images. In addition, the page builder embeds a client side application that renders a shifting of the images when an image is selected by the user.

BACKGROUND

Users may browse items on web pages presented by electronic commercesystems in order to identify items for purchase. Typically, searchresults listing a number of items are presented. Users often select fromthe items to view a detail page presenting more detailed informationabout such items.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood withreference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings arenot necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a drawing of networked environment according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are drawings illustrating examples of a user interfacerendered by a client in the networked environment of FIG. 1 according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating one example of functionalityimplemented as portions of a client side application executed in acomputing device in the networked environment of FIG. 1 according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram that provides one exampleillustration of a computing device employed in the networked environmentof FIG. 1 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates to browsing a listing of items availablein an electronic commerce system where the listing of items is presentedin a spiral format. In one embodiment, a page builder is executed togenerate a network page that presents the items arranged in a spiral.The items are placed in a ranked order, where a highest ranked item islocated at a center of the spiral. In addition, the remaining items arepositioned along the path of the spiral according to the ranking of theitems. Further, a client side application is embedded within the networkpage that renders a shifting of the images upon a selection of one ormore of the images in the spiral. In the following discussion, a generaldescription of the system and its components is provided, followed by adiscussion of the operation of the same.

With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a networked environment 100 accordingto various embodiments. The networked environment 100 includes acomputing device 103, a client 106, and a network 109. The network 109includes, for example, the Internet, intranets, extranets, wide areanetworks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wired networks, wirelessnetworks, or other suitable networks, etc., or any combination of two ormore such networks.

The computing device 103 may comprise, for example, a server computer orany other system providing computing capability. Alternatively, aplurality of computing devices 103 may be employed that are arranged,for example, in one or more server banks or computer banks or otherarrangements. For example, a plurality of computing devices 103 togethermay comprise a cloud computing resource, a grid computing resource,and/or any other distributed computing arrangement. Such computingdevices 103 may be located in a single installation or may bedistributed among many different geographical locations. For purposes ofconvenience, the computing device 103 is referred to herein in thesingular. Even though the computing device is referred to in thesingular, it is understood that a plurality of computing devices 103 maybe employed in the various arrangements as described above.

Various applications and/or other functionality may be executed in thecomputing device 103 according to various embodiments. Also, variousdata is stored in a data store 113 that is accessible to the computingdevice 103. The data store 113 may be representative of a plurality ofdata stores as can be appreciated. The data stored in the data store113, for example, is associated with the operation of the variousapplications and/or functional entities described below.

The components executed on the computing device 103, for example,include an electronic commerce system 116, and other applications,services, processes, systems, engines, or functionality not discussed indetail herein. The electronic commerce system 116 includes variouscomponents such as a page builder 119 and other applications andprocesses.

The electronic commerce system 116 is executed in order to facilitatethe online purchase of items over the network 109. The electroniccommerce system 116 also performs various backend functions associatedwith the online presence of a merchant in order to facilitate the onlinepurchase of items 123 as will be described. For example, the electroniccommerce system 116 generates network pages 136 such as web pages orother types of network content that are provided to clients 106 for thepurposes of selecting items for purchase, rental, download, lease, orother form of consumption as will be described.

Additionally, the page builder 119 is configured to generate the networkpages 136 such as web pages and/or client side applications 139 inresponse to requests such as HTTP requests from the client 106 inassociation with the operation of the electronic commerce system 116.Such network pages and/or client side applications may be renderedand/or executed on the client device 106 for various purposes. In oneembodiment, the client side applications 139 may be embedded withinnetwork pages 136 such as web pages and the like, as will be described.Alternatively, such client side applications 139 may be transmitted tothe client device 106 in some other format to be executed thereon.

The data stored in the data store 113 includes, for example, a catalogof items 123, and potentially other data. Each of the items 123 is sold,for example, to customers through the electronic commerce system 116.Associated with each item 123 is an image that may depict, for example,one or more views of the item 123 that is available for purchase in theelectronic commerce system 116. Also associated with each item 123 isinformation 129 that may comprise, for example, detail information aboutthe item 123, purchasing information, shipping information, preferencesspecific to item 123, and/or any other information related to item 123.For instance, purchasing information may include pricing information,discount information, methods of payment, and/or any other informationrelated to the item 123. Further, shipping information may includeshipping discounts, projected dates of delivery, forms of delivery,carrier information, and/or any other information related to shippingthe item 123. Additionally preferences specific to item 123 may includea size preference, a color preference, a design preference, and/or anyother preference that may be specific to the item 123.

The client 106 is representative of a plurality of client devices thatmay be coupled to the network 109. The client 106 may comprise, forexample, a processor-based system such as a computer system. Such acomputer system may be embodied in the form of a desktop computer, alaptop computer, a personal digital assistant, a cellular telephone,set-top box, music players, web pads, tablet computer systems, gameconsoles, or other devices with like capability.

The client 106 may be configured to execute various applications such asa browser 133 and/or other applications. The browser 133 may be executedin a client 106, for example, to access and render network pages, suchas web pages, or other network content served up by the computing device103 and/or other servers. The rendered network pages 136 or othercontent are viewed on a display device 143. In one embodiment, thenetwork page 136 includes the client side application 139 thatimplements a variety of functions that dictate how a network page 136 isrendered and how users may interact with the network page 136 as will bedescribed. The client side application 139 may be embedded in thenetwork page 136 that is executed as needed. Further, the client sideapplication 139 may access functionality of the browser 133 for variouspurposes as will be described. In this respect, the functionality of thebrowser 133 may be viewed as an extension of the client side application139.

In another embodiment, the client side application 139 may not beembedded in the network page 136 and instead may be provided to andexecuted by the client 106 in some other manner. The client 106 may beconfigured to execute applications beyond browser 133 such as, forexample, email applications, instant message applications, and/or otherapplications.

Next, a general description of the operation of the various componentsof the networked environment 100 is provided. A user on client 106 maymanipulate the browser 133 to submit a request for an item search to theelectronic commerce system 116. Upon performing the item search, one ormore items 123 may be responsive to the request that may be presented tothe user. The page builder 119 generates a network page 136 to presentthe results of the search to the user. According to various embodiments,the network page 136 includes the client side application 139. Thenetwork page 136 is sent to the client device 106 in response to therequest. The network page 136 is rendered in order to facilitate viewingof the items 123 on the display device 143 of the client device 106. Theclient side application 139 is executed during the rendering of thenetwork page 136 and controls the presentation of the items 123 on thedisplay device 143 as will be described.

Referring next to FIG. 2, shown is one example of a network page 136,denoted herein as network page 136 a, according to various embodimentsof the present disclosure. The various graphical components such as theblocks comprising different information shown in FIG. 2 are merelyexamples of the various types of features that may be used to accomplishthe specific functions noted. The network page 136 is rendered on adisplay device 143 associated with the client 106 (FIG. 1) according tovarious embodiments. In another embodiment, FIG. 2 may be viewed asdepicting the display output of the client side application 139 (FIG.1), according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

In one embodiment, the page builder 119 (FIG. 1) generates the networkpage 136 a to display the results of a request for an item searchsubmitted to the electronic commerce system 116 (FIG. 1). As shown, thenetwork page 136 a displays the results as a listing of items arrangedin a spiral. In one embodiment, the network page 136 a comprises asearch field 203, a criteria field 206, a spiral 209 comprised of images126 (FIG. 1) of items 123 (FIG. 1), a detail box 213, a keep shoppingbutton 216, a buy now button 219, a previous button 223, and a nextbutton 226.

In one embodiment, a user may provide a search term in the search field203 that transmits a request to the electronic commerce system 116 for alisting of items 123 that match the search term. In this example,“shoes” serves as the search term being used to transmit the request tothe electronic commerce system 116. Additionally, the criteria field 206may be used to select one or more criteria for ranking the items 123. Inthis example, the criterion for ranking the items 123 is the price. Inone embodiment, the user may select more than one criterion for rankingthe items 123 such as, for instance, availability of the items, customerrating of the items, and/or any other criterion related to browsing foritems 123 in an electronic commerce system 116.

Upon transmitting the request to the electronic commerce system 116, theclient side application 139 receives the items 123 satisfying the searchterm and includes the items 123 in the network page 136 a. In oneembodiment, the client side application 139 may receive all of the items123 satisfying the search term and any corresponding information 129(FIG. 1) of the items 123 which may be stored in a memory accessible bythe client 106. In another embodiment, the client side application 139may receive a predetermined number of items 123 satisfying the searchterm and any corresponding information 129.

In one embodiment, the items 123 are presented in a spiral 209 having afirst image 126 a at the center of the spiral 209. The first image 126 aat the center of the spiral 209 represents the highest ranked item 123according to the one or more criterion provided by the user in thecriteria field 206. For instance, the first image 126 a may correspondto the most expensive item 123. The remaining images 126 are positionedaround the first image 126 a to form the spiral 209. In particular, theimages 126 appearing along the path of the spiral 209 are rankedaccording to the one or more criterion provided by the user. Forinstance, a second image 126 b corresponds to the second highest rankeditem 123, a third image 126 c corresponds to the third highest rankeditem 123, and so forth. Thus, a last image 126 i corresponds to thelowest ranked item 123. For instance, the last image 126 i maycorrespond to the least expensive item 123.

Additionally, in one embodiment, the size of the image 126 correspondingto the highest ranked item 123 may be greater than any of the otherimages 126 that comprise the spiral 209. The sizes of each of the otherimages 126 may decrease in size according the ranking determined by thepage builder 119. For instance, the first image 126 a corresponding tothe highest ranked item 123 is the largest image 126 in the spiral 209.Further, the second image 126 b corresponding to the second highestranked item 123 is the second largest image 126 in the spiral 209.Similarly, the last image 126 i corresponding to the lowest ranked item124 is the smallest image 126 in the spiral 209. In another embodiment,the images 126 of the spiral 209 may be in contact with each other suchthat there is no open space between the images 126, thereby forming acontinuous spiral 209. In a further embodiment, a portion of each of theimages 126 may be overlapping with the respective adjacent images 126 toform the spiral 209.

In another embodiment, the images 126 of the spiral 209 may vary inother ways such as transparency, color, and/or any other style or formatto indicate an order for a ranking. For instance, the first image 126 acorresponding to the highest ranked item 123 may appear in bold whilethe last image 126 i corresponding to the lowest ranked item 123 mayappear to be close to transparent. Further, the transparency of each ofthe images 126 in the spiral 209 may correspond to the ranking of items123 associated with each of the images 126. Similarly, a color schemefor each of the images 126 may indicate a ranking of the items, such as,for example, varying shades of colors.

In another embodiment, the images 126 of the spiral 209 may beconfigured to form a three-dimensional spiral structure. For example,the location and size of each of the images 126 in the three-dimensionalspiral may correspond to the ranking of each of the items 123 associatedwith the respective images 126, as described above. In addition, animage 126 associated with the highest ranked item 123 may be at thecenter of the three-dimensional spiral. In one embodiment, thethree-dimensional spiral may be a hologram rendered on the displaydevice 143.

Furthermore, the network page 136 a also includes the detail box 213that depicts detailed information 129. In one embodiment, the detail box213 depicts the information 129 associated with the image 126 at thecenter of the spiral 209. For instance, the first image 126 a is locatedat the center of the spiral 209. As such, the detail box 213 depicts theinformation 129 that corresponds to the first image 126 a. In oneembodiment, the user may select another image 126 in the spiral 209 toreceive additional information 129 corresponding to the selected image126. In this example, the client side application 139 may shift theselected image 126 to the center of the spiral 209 and refresh thedetail box 213 to correspond with the selected image 126, as will bedescribed with respect to FIG. 3.

In addition, the network page 136 a includes a keep shopping button 216that, for instance, allows the user to continue browsing other items123. The buy now button 219 allows the user to purchase the item 126depicted at the center of the spiral 209. For instance, the user mayreview the information 129 depicted in the detail box 213 correspondingto the image 126 depicted at the center of the spiral 209 and purchasethe item 123. Finally, the previous button 223 and the next button 226allow the user to view other items 123 depicted in the spiral 209, aswill be described with respect to FIG. 3. For instance, the previousbutton 223 and the next button 226 function as a navigation controlpanel that allows the user to view the other images 126. In anotherembodiment, the navigation control panel may be a dial depicted on thenetwork page 136 a, a scroll wheel and/or scroll bar associated with theclient 106, and/or any other design that provides for navigating thespiral 209.

Turning now to FIG. 3, shown is one example of a network page 136,denoted herein as network page 136 b, according to various embodimentsof the present disclosure. The various graphical components such as theblocks comprising different information shown in FIG. 3 are merelyexamples of the various types of features that may be used to accomplishthe specific functions noted. The network page 136 is rendered on adisplay device 143 associated with the client 106 (FIG. 1) according tovarious embodiments. In another embodiment, FIG. 3 may be viewed asdepicting the display output of the client side application 139 (FIG.1), according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

In one embodiment, the network page 136 b of FIG. 3 shows a shifting ofthe images 126 such that the network page 136 maintains the rankedspiral 209 (FIG. 1). For example, the user may select the third image126 c to request information 129 associated with the third image 126,browse the item 123 associated with the third image 126 c, purchase theitem 123 associated with the third image 126 c, and/or for any otherpurpose. Upon receiving the selection, the client side application 139shifts the images 126 as depicted in network page 136 b.

In one embodiment, as shown in the network page 136 b, the client sideapplication 139 shifts the selected third image 126 c to the center ofthe spiral 209. Contemporaneously, the client side application 139shifts the first image 126 a out of the center of the spiral 209. Forinstance, the client side application 139 may shift the first image 126a to a location out of the center of the spiral 209 and into a locationthat corresponds with the rank associated with the item 123 depicted bythe first image 126. In this example, the first image 126 a depicts thehighest ranked item 123. As such, the client side application 139 shiftsthe first image 126 a to the first location along the path of the spiral209, as show in network page 136 b. Furthermore, the client sideapplication 139 may also contemporaneously shift the remaining images126 in the spiral 209 to maintain the ranking of the images 126 of thespiral 209, as described above. For example, the client side application139 shifts the second image 126 b out the first location along the pathof the spiral 209 to a location that corresponds with the rankassociated with the item 123 depicted by the second image 126. Here, thesecond image 126 b corresponds to the second highest ranked item 123. Assuch, the client side application 139 shifts the second image 126 b to alocation adjacent to the first image 126 a along the spiral 209.

In another embodiment, the client side application 139 resizes theimages 126 such that the spiral 209 maintains the order of sizes of theimages 126 in the spiral 209. As shown in network page 136 b, the clientside application 139 enlarges the selected third image 126 c such thatthe third image 126 c becomes the largest image in the spiral 209.Contemporaneously, the client side application 139 resizes the remainingimages 126 to maintain the order of the sizes of the images 126 in thespiral 209. For instance, the client side application 139 shrinks thefirst image 126 a such that the size of the first image 126 acorresponds to the rank of the item 123 associated with the first image126 a. In this example, the first image 126 a is associated with thehighest ranked item 126. As such, the client side application 139resizes the first image 126 a to be the largest image 126 in the spiral209, notwithstanding the size of the image 126 at the center of thespiral 209. Further, the client side application 139 resizes theremaining images 126 of the spiral 209 to correspond with the rank ofthe item 123 associated with each of the respective images 126, asdescribed above.

In another embodiment, the client side application 139 may alter theimages 126 of the spiral 209 in other ways and still maintain the orderof the ranking of the images 126, such as, for instance, depictingimages with varying degrees of transparency. For example, the clientside application 139 may embolden the third image 126 c such that thethird image 126 c becomes the boldest image in the spiral 209.Contemporaneously, the client side application 139 may alter theremaining images 126 to maintain the order of the transparency of theimages 126 in the spiral. For instance, the client side application 139may make the first image 126 a more transparent such that thetransparency of the first image 126 a corresponds to the rank of theitem 123 associated with the first image 126 a. Similarly, the clientside application 139 may alter the transparency of the remaining images126 of the spiral according to the order of the ranking. In anotherembodiment, the client side application 139 may alter the images 126according to a shade of color, such as, for example, applying differentshades of a particular color to designate an order of the ranking.

Additionally, the client side application 139 depicts the information129 in the detail box 213 that is associated with the image 126appearing in the center of the spiral 209. For instance, the client sideapplication 139 depicts the information 129 associated with the selectedthird image 126 c in the detail box 213. In addition, the network page136 b includes the keep shopping button 216 and the buy now button 219,as described above, for browsing items 123 in the electronic commercesystem 116.

In one embodiment, the previous button 223 and the next button 226 maybe used as navigation controls to browse the images 126 depicted in thespiral 209. For instance, the user may manipulate the next button 226 tobrowse to the next sequential image 126 in the spiral 209. Uponmanipulating the next button 226, the client side application 139 mayshift the images 126 to maintain the ranked order of items 123, asdescribed above. In addition, the client side application 139 may alsoreplace the information 129 depicted in the detail box 213 to correspondwith the next sequential image 126. Further, the user may manipulate theprevious button 229 to browse to the previous sequential image 126 inthe spiral 209, in a similar manner. In another embodiment, thenavigation controls may appear as a dial on the network page 136 b thatmay be rotated clockwise or counter clockwise to shift the images 126 ofthe spiral 209. In yet another embodiment, the navigation controls maybe a scroll wheel and/or a scroll bar that may be associated with theclient 106.

In another embodiment, the client side application 139 may remove theitems 123 ranked higher than the item 123 associated with the selectedimage 126. For instance, using the example from above, the items 123associated with the first image 126 a and second image 126 b are rankedhigher than the item 123 associated with the selected third image 126 c.In this example, the client side application 139 may remove the firstimage 126 a and the second image 126 c out of the spiral 209 andintroduce new images 126 to include in the spiral 209. For instance, theclient side application 139 may introduce two additional images 126j/126 k into the spiral 209 and include the images 126 j/126 k in alocation in the spiral 209 that corresponds to the rank of the item 123associated with the images 126 j/126 k. Here, the client sideapplication 139 may include the images 126 j/126 k at the tail end ofthe spiral 209.

In addition, upon removing the images 126 associated with items 123ranked higher than the item 123 associated with the selected image 126,the client side application 139 may contemporaneously render theshifting of the remaining images 126 in the spiral 209. In oneembodiment, the client side application 139 may rotate the images 126 ina counter clock-wise direction along the path of the spiral 209 suchthat the selected third image 126 c appears at the center of the spiral209. In addition, the client side application 139 may shift the images126 appearing sequentially after the selected third image 126 c alongthe path of the spiral 209 to a location that corresponds to the rankingof the item 123 associated with each of the respective images 126.

Referring next to FIG. 4, shown is a flowchart that provides one exampleof the operation of a portion of the client side application 139according to various embodiments. It is understood that the flowchart ofFIG. 4 provides merely an example of the many different types offunctional arrangements that may be employed to implement the operationof the portion of the client side application 139 as described herein.As an alternative, the flowchart of FIG. 4 may be viewed as depicting anexample of steps of a method implemented in the computing device 103(FIG. 1) according to one or more embodiments.

According to one embodiment, the page builder 119 (FIG. 1) generates anetwork page 136 (FIG. 1) that provides a listing of ranked items 123(FIG. 1) available for purchase in an electronic commerce system 116(FIG. 1) where the ranked items 123 may be presented as a spiral 209(FIG. 2). Embedded in the network page 136 is the client sideapplication 139 that shifts images 126 (FIG. 1) included in the spiral209 based on a selection of an image 126 provide by a user on a clientdevice 106 (FIG. 1).

Beginning with box 403, the client side application 139 depicts theranked items 123 in a spiral 209, as seen in FIG. 2. For example, theitems 123 may be ranked according to a criterion provided by a user onthe client device 106. In one embodiment, the client side application139 may depict an image 126 of a highest ranked item 123 at the centerof the spiral. Further, the client side application 139 may includeadditional images 126 along the path of the spiral 209 where the orderof the images 126 corresponds to the ranking of the items 123 associatedwith the respective images 126. For instance, the client sideapplication 139 may configure the spiral 209 such that the images 126along the spiral are presented in a decreasing order of ranked items123, as described above.

In another embodiment, the client side application 139 may size theimages 126 according to the ranking of the items 123 associated witheach of the images 126. For instance, the client side application 139may size the image 126 associated with the highest ranked item 123 to bethe largest sized image 126 in the spiral 209. Similarly, the clientside application 139 may shape the image 126 associated with the lowestranked item 123 to be the smallest sized image 126 in the spiral 209, asdescribed above. Additionally, the client side application 139 may alsodepict detailed information 129 associated with the image 126 located atthe center of the spiral 209, such as, for instance, the image 126associated with the highest ranked item 123.

Next, in box 406, the client side application 139 determines if an image126 in the spiral 209 is selected by the user. In one embodiment, theuser may request to view detailed information 129 associated with animage 126 in the spiral 209 by selecting the image 126 and/ormanipulating the navigation controls included on the network page 136.For example, the user may manipulate the next button 226 and/or theprevious button 223. The client side application 139 determines if theuser requested to view detailed information 129 associated with an image126 in the spiral 209 and proceeds to box 409 if the selection isreceived. An inactivity timeout period may be associated with the clientside application 139 in the event that the user does not select anotherimage 126, or the network page 136 may remain static until action istaken.

In box 409, the client side application 139 shifts the selected image126 into the center of the spiral 209 in response to the user selection.For example, the client side application 139 may shift an image 126already present at the center of the spiral 209 out of the center andshift the selected image 126 into the center. In one embodiment, theclient side application 139 may contemporaneously shift the selectedimage 126 to the center of the spiral 209 and resize the selected image126 to be the largest image 126 in the spiral 209, as described above.Additionally, the client side application 139 may also depict theinformation 129 associated with the selected image 126 in the detail box213.

Next, in box 413, the client side application 139 may rearrange theunselected images 126 of the spiral 209 to maintain the ranked order ofitems 123. In one embodiment, the client side application 139 rearrangesthe images 126 not located at the center of the spiral 209 where eachimage 126 is placed at a location along the spiral 209 that correspondsto the rank of the item 123 associated with each of the respectiveimages 126. For instance, the image 126 associated with the highestranked item 123 not located at the center of the spiral 209 may occupythe first sequential location along the spiral 209 adjacent to thecenter. Similarly, the image 126 associated with the lowest ranked item123 not located at the center of the spiral 209 may occupy the lastsequential location along the spiral 209, such as the tail end of thespiral 209. In another embodiment, the client side application 139 maycontemporaneously alter the images 126 according to the ranking of theitems 123 associated with each of the respective images 126, asdescribed above. For instance, the client side application 139 may alterthe images 126 by resizing the images, changing a degree of transparencyof the images, shading of the images, and/or alter the images in anyother manner.

In box 416, the client side application 139 determines whether to obtainadditional item information. In one embodiment, the client sideapplication 139 may remove all images 126 associated with items 123ranked higher than the item 123 associated with the selected image 126from the spiral 209 and replace the removed images 126 with additionalimages 126 received from the electronic commerce system 116. Forexample, the client side application 139 may include the additionalimages 126 in the spiral 209 according to the ranking of the items 126associated with the additional images 126, such as, for instance, thetail end of the spiral 209. If the client side application 139determines that additional item information is required, then in box419, the client side application 139 transmits a request to theelectronic commerce system 116 for the additional item information. Ifthe client side application 139 determines that additional iteminformation is not required, then the client side application 139returns to box 406.

With reference to FIG. 5, shown is a schematic block diagram of thecomputing device 103 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The computing device 103 includes at least one processorcircuit, for example, having a processor 503 and a memory 506, both ofwhich are coupled to a local interface 509. To this end, the computingdevice 103 may comprise, for example, at least one server computer orlike device. The local interface 509 may comprise, for example, a databus with an accompanying address/control bus or other bus structure ascan be appreciated.

Stored in the memory 506 are both data and several components that areexecutable by the processor 503. In particular, stored in the memory 506and executable by the processor 503 are the electronic commerce system116, the page builder 119, and potentially other applications. Alsostored in the memory 506 may be a data store 113 and other data. Inaddition, an operating system may be stored in the memory 506 andexecutable by the processor 503.

It is understood that there may be other applications that are stored inthe memory 506 and are executable by the processors 503 as can beappreciated. Where any component discussed herein is implemented in theform of software, any one of a number of programming languages may beemployed such as, for example, C, C++, C#, Objective C, Java,Javascript, Perl, PHP, Visual Basic, Python, Ruby, Delphi, Flash, orother programming languages.

A number of software components are stored in the memory 506 and areexecutable by the processor 503. In this respect, the term “executable”means a program file that is in a form that can ultimately be run by theprocessor 503. Examples of executable programs may be, for example, acompiled program that can be translated into machine code in a formatthat can be loaded into a random access portion of the memory 506 andrun by the processor 503, source code that may be expressed in properformat such as object code that is capable of being loaded into a randomaccess portion of the memory 506 and executed by the processor 503, orsource code that may be interpreted by another executable program togenerate instructions in a random access portion of the memory 506 to beexecuted by the processor 503, etc. An executable program may be storedin any portion or component of the memory 506 including, for example,random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard drive,solid-state drive, USB flash drive, memory card, optical disc such ascompact disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, magnetictape, or other memory components.

The memory 506 is defined herein as including both volatile andnonvolatile memory and data storage components. Volatile components arethose that do not retain data values upon loss of power. Nonvolatilecomponents are those that retain data upon a loss of power. Thus, thememory 506 may comprise, for example, random access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM), hard disk drives, solid-state drives, USB flashdrives, memory cards accessed via a memory card reader, floppy disksaccessed via an associated floppy disk drive, optical discs accessed viaan optical disc drive, magnetic tapes accessed via an appropriate tapedrive, and/or other memory components, or a combination of any two ormore of these memory components. In addition, the RAM may comprise, forexample, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random accessmemory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM) and other suchdevices. The ROM may comprise, for example, a programmable read-onlymemory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), anelectrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or otherlike memory device.

Also, the processor 503 may represent multiple processors 503 and thememory 506 may represent multiple memories 506 that operate in parallelprocessing circuits, respectively. In such a case, the local interface509 may be an appropriate network 109 (FIG. 1) that facilitatescommunication between any two of the multiple processors 503, betweenany processor 503 and any of the memories 506, or between any two of thememories 506, etc. The local interface 509 may comprise additionalsystems designed to coordinate this communication, including, forexample, performing load balancing. The processor 503 may be ofelectrical or of some other available construction.

Although the electronic commerce system 116, the page builder 119, andother various systems described herein may be embodied in software orcode executed by general purpose hardware as discussed above, as analternative the same may also be embodied in dedicated hardware or acombination of software/general purpose hardware and dedicated hardware.If embodied in dedicated hardware, each can be implemented as a circuitor state machine that employs any one of or a combination of a number oftechnologies. These technologies may include, but are not limited to,discrete logic circuits having logic gates for implementing variouslogic functions upon an application of one or more data signals,application specific integrated circuits having appropriate logic gates,or other components, etc. Such technologies are generally well known bythose skilled in the art and, consequently, are not described in detailherein.

The flowchart of FIG. 4 shows the functionality and operation of animplementation of portions of the client side application 139 (FIG. 1).If embodied in software, each block may represent a module, segment, orportion of code that comprises program instructions to implement thespecified logical function(s). The program instructions may be embodiedin the form of source code that comprises human-readable statementswritten in a programming language or machine code that comprisesnumerical instructions recognizable by a suitable execution system suchas a processor 503 in a computer system or other system. The machinecode may be converted from the source code, etc. If embodied inhardware, each block may represent a circuit or a number ofinterconnected circuits to implement the specified logical function(s).

Although the flowchart of FIG. 4 shows a specific order of execution, itis understood that the order of execution may differ from that which isdepicted. For example, the order of execution of two or more blocks maybe scrambled relative to the order shown. Also, two or more blocks shownin succession in FIG. 4 may be executed concurrently or with partialconcurrence. Further, in some embodiments, one or more of the blocksshown in FIG. 4 may be skipped or omitted. In addition, any number ofcounters, state variables, warning semaphores, or messages might beadded to the logical flow described herein, for purposes of enhancedutility, accounting, performance measurement, or providingtroubleshooting aids, etc. It is understood that all such variations arewithin the scope of the present disclosure.

Also, any logic or application described herein, including theelectronic commerce system 116 and the page builder 119, that comprisessoftware or code can be embodied in any non-transitory computer-readablemedium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution systemsuch as, for example, a processor 503 in a computer system or othersystem. In this sense, the logic may comprise, for example, statementsincluding instructions and declarations that can be fetched from thecomputer-readable medium and executed by the instruction executionsystem. In the context of the present disclosure, a “computer-readablemedium” can be any medium that can contain, store, or maintain the logicor application described herein for use by or in connection with theinstruction execution system. The computer-readable medium can compriseany one of many physical media such as, for example, magnetic, optical,or semiconductor media. More specific examples of a suitablecomputer-readable medium would include, but are not limited to, magnetictapes, magnetic floppy diskettes, magnetic hard drives, memory cards,solid-state drives, USB flash drives, or optical discs. Also, thecomputer-readable medium may be a random access memory (RAM) including,for example, static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM). Inaddition, the computer-readable medium may be a read-only memory (ROM),a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), or other type of memory device.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations setforth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure.Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-describedembodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit andprinciples of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure andprotected by the following claims.

Therefore, the following is claimed:
 1. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium embodying a program executable in a firstcomputing device, wherein when executed, the program causes the firstcomputing device to at least: rank a plurality of items according to atleast one criterion provided by a user on a second computing device;generate a network page that depicts a spiral comprising a plurality ofimages, the plurality of images being associated with the plurality ofitems; arrange the images in the spiral according to a ranking of theitems, wherein a first image associated with a highest ranked item islocated at a center of the spiral, and wherein a plurality of remainingimages are arranged along a path of the spiral in a decreasing orderaccording to the ranking of the items; alter the images in the spiralaccording to the ranking of the items, wherein altering the imagescomprises at least one of altering a size of each of the images,altering a color of each of the images, or altering a degree oftransparency for each of the images; and generate a client sideapplication that renders a shifting of the images in the spiral upon aselection of an image of the images, wherein the selected image of theimages is shifted to the center of the spiral and a plurality ofunselected images in the spiral are rearranged according to the rankingof the items.
 2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein theimages in the spiral are in contact with a plurality of adjacent images.3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein a subset of theimages associated with a subset of the items ranked higher than an itemcorresponding to the selected image are removed from the spiralcontemporaneously with the shifting of the images.
 4. A systemcomprising: a data store configured to at least storecomputer-executable instructions; and at least one first computingdevice in communication with the data store, the at least one firstcomputing device, when implementing the computer-executableinstructions, configured to at least rank a plurality of items accordingto at least one criteria; generate a client side application comprisinglogic that renders, on a second computing device, a plurality of imagesassociated with each of the items arranged in a spiral, wherein thespiral completely displays a first image of the images at a center ofthe spiral; and alter each of the images according to a visual indicatorindicating an order of a respective item in a ranking of the items. 5.The system of claim 4, wherein the client side application furthercomprises logic that renders a shifting of the images in the spiral. 6.The system of claim 5, wherein the shifting of the images in the spiraloccurs when a second image of the images is selected.
 7. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the second one of the images is shifted to the centerof the spiral during the shifting of the images in the spiral.
 8. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein images corresponding to items ranked higherthan an item corresponding to the second image of the images are removedfrom the spiral after the shifting of the images.
 9. The system of claim5, wherein the shifting of the images is controlled by manipulation of anavigation control rendered on a display of the second computing device.10. The system of claim 4, wherein a highest ranked image associatedwith a highest ranked item is located at the center of the spiral. 11.The system of claim 4, wherein the images located at a tail end of thespiral are associated with a first subset of the items that are rankedlower than a second subset of the items depicted by images located at apredetermined distance from the center of the spiral.
 12. The system ofclaim 4, wherein a location of each of the images in the spiralcorresponds to a rank of the respective item.
 13. The system of claim12, wherein the images closer to the center of the spiral correspond toitems that are ranked higher than items corresponding to images fartheraway from the center of the spiral.
 14. The system of claim 4, whereinthe visual indicator comprises a degree of transparency that correspondsto a ranking associated of a respective item.
 15. A computer-implementedmethod comprising: rendering for display, in a computing device, in anetwork page a spiral listing of a plurality of images associated with aplurality of ranked items, wherein the images received by the computingdevice are responsive to an item search, and wherein a first image ofthe images is located at a center of the spiral listing; altering, inthe computing device, each of the images according to a visual indicatorindicating an order in a rank of a respective ranked item; andexecuting, in the computing device, a client side application embeddedin the network page to render a shifting of the spiral listing when asecond one of the images is selected.
 16. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 15, wherein the second one of the images shifts to thecenter of the spiral listing during the shifting of the spiral listing.17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the first imageof the images corresponds to a highest ranked.
 18. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein a location of theimages in the spiral listing corresponds to a rank of a respectiveranked item.
 19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, whereinimages closer to the center of the spiral listing correspond to rankeditems that are ranked higher than ranked items corresponding to imagesfarther away from the center of the spiral listing.
 20. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the shifting of thespiral listing is controlled by manipulation of a navigation controlrendered on the network page.
 21. The method of claim 15, wherein theranked items are ranked based at least in part on at least one of aprice and a customer rating.
 22. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 15, wherein the visual indicator is a size based at least in parton the order in the rank.
 23. The computer-implemented method of claim15, wherein the visual indicator is a degree of transparency based atleast in part on the order in the rank.